Israel intensifies raids in Lebanon and continues operations in Gaza

(Beirut) Israel intensified its strikes on Sunday on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon which left at least three dead, its army calling on the population to evacuate the Baalbeck region in the east before new raids.

In northern Israel, bordering southern Lebanon, warning sirens were activated after “several projectiles” were fired towards Israeli territory, the army said, reporting the interception of some and the fall of others in nature.

On its southern border, Israel continues its war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip, triggered by the attack carried out on October 7, 2023 by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil. The next day and in support of Hamas, its ally, Lebanese Hezbollah opened a front against Israel, which degenerated into open war last September.

A few days before the November 5 presidential election in the United States, Israel’s main ally, and despite international pressure, attempts to put an end to hostilities in Gaza and Lebanon have remained in vain.

In southern Lebanon, a “wave of Israeli air attacks” hit the regions of Tire and Bint Jbeil, the national news agency ANI reported. At least three people were killed in a raid near Saida, the main southern city, according to Lebanese authorities.

South of Saida, a strike hit a residential building in Ghaziyeh, according to an AFP correspondent. A child was rescued from the rubble.

The Israeli army claimed to have “eliminated” several “terrorists” from the Lebanese Islamist movement in “airstrikes” and “close combat” in southern Lebanon, where its troops have been carrying out a ground offensive since September 30.

Damaged hospital in the south

ANI also reported Israeli strikes targeting the area around a public hospital in Tebnine, a village in the Bint Jbeil district.

The mayor of Tebnine, Nabil Fawaz, told AFP that the government hospital risked being out of service in the coming hours due to the significant damage caused by the Israeli strikes.

The Israeli army said it carried out an operation in several houses in a village in southern Lebanon, discovering in one of them “weapons hidden in the kitchen and in a child’s bedroom”, as well as ” combat equipment and intelligence documents used by the Hezbollah fighters who had barricaded themselves there.

In eastern Lebanon, Israel launched a new call for the evacuation of residents of the Baalbeck region, in particular the village of Douris, located a few kilometers south of the thousand-year-old town of Baalbeck which has a group of Roman temples listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

“You are located near Hezbollah installations and interests,” said Arabic-language army spokesperson Avichay Adraee in a message on X accompanied by maps of the intended targets.

Baalbeck and Douris were already targeted by a series of strikes on October 30.

Shortly after, at least three strikes targeted several localities in Bekaa, where Baalbeck is located, according to an AFP correspondent.

Offensive in Jabalia

Since September 23, Israeli forces have intensified their strikes against Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon, claiming to want to neutralize this movement in the border regions and prevent rocket fire to allow the return of 60,000 displaced people to the north of the country.

At least 1,930 people have been killed since September 23 in Lebanon, according to an AFP count based on official data.

In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army claimed its forces killed Raafat Qodeih, a member of Hamas’ Nukhba unit that Israel said infiltrated during the October 7, 2023 attack on Kibbutz Nir Oz, where around thirty inhabitants were killed and more than 70 taken hostage and taken to Gaza.

Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after this attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data, including hostages killed or died in captivity. Of 251 people kidnapped, 97 remain hostages in Gaza, 34 of whom were declared dead by the army.

The Israeli army in retaliation launched a devastating offensive in Gaza which left 43,341 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Hamas Ministry of Health, and caused colossal destruction and a humanitarian disaster.

Since October 6, the Israeli army has concentrated its offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip, claiming that Hamas is gathering its forces there. She said her troops had “eliminated dozens of terrorists” in Jabalia in the past 24 hours.